


A Moment Alone

by HeidiBug731



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: DA4, F/M, Post-Trespasser
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 23:11:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11172060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeidiBug731/pseuds/HeidiBug731
Summary: Solas and Lavellan are on opposing sides; one seeking to destroy the world, the other to stop it. But when circumstances trap them together, they remember what first brought them together and what they can no longer deny themselves.





	A Moment Alone

“Wait!” Solas' hand pulls hers down. “You shift it wrong, you could bring the whole thing down on us.”

She stares at the cave-in she was about to blast with a force spell. “What do you suggest we do?”

He heads further into the cave, taking the light of the veilfire with him. “Your forces were behind us. I assume they'll be proficient in digging us out.”

She scoffs. “My ' _forces?'_ You make it sound like I have an army. It's more like a… group.”

He finds an outcropping and sits on it. He lowers his hand to the floor, leaving the veilfire there to burn on its own. “Are you saying _one_ mage was enough to send out a single misfired shot to collapse the cave opening?”

 _That might have been Dagna…_ though she's not going to point that out.

She looks over his shoulder. The cave goes deeper in, though it's shrouded in darkness. “We could go that way. Maybe it opens up at another end.”

He gives a laugh. “Probably… after the Deep Roads, Darkspawn, and Blight.”

“You ran into this cave!”

“I didn't expect you to come after me.”

She puts a hand on her hip. “You're telling me you had no idea what was in here?”

He shrugs. “Your forces left me few options… unless you wanted me to start hurting people. I was just looking for cover.”

She throws up her hands and turns away from him. “You're insufferable.”

“Yet you came after me.”

She did. It seems to be all she's able to do. Ever since he left the Inquisition she's been trying to track him down, to understand, to make sure he doesn't kill himself doing something stupid. Yet he continues to evade her… and she continues to chase after him. Even with the little voice in the back of her head telling her she's pathetic for doing so. Even with her friends asking her why she tries so hard.

They tell her she deserves better. And they're right. She does.

She balls her hand into a fist and wheels on him. “None of this would have happened if you'd just _talk_ to me like a normal person!”

He blinks. “It's not that simple, _vhenan_.”

His use of the word only angers her further. He has no right to it, not after everything he's put her through. “To the Void, _why not?!_ ”

He only stares at her, and she hates it. She hates how he refuses to rise to her anger. She wants to rage and scream at him. She's earned that much. Can he not give her that?

“I tried to tell you.” There's a tremor in his voice she was not expecting, and her anger falters in spite of herself. “At Crestwood, at the lake.” He gives her a melancholy smile. “I was going to tell you everything, and then… I realized if I told you…” He exhales in a long sigh and bows his head.

She steps closer to him, curiosity and hope overriding any anger she had left. “If you'd told me… what would have happened?”

He takes her hand and looks up at her with sad eyes. He doesn't speak, and for a while she wonders if she might never know the answer.

“You are the one person,” he says. “In all of Thedas who could talk me out of it.”

Her mouth opens in a silent gasp.

He drops his gaze and turns away, but he doesn't let go of her hand. “That's why I couldn't tell you… why I can't tell you.”

“Solas.” She kneels in front him, letting go of his hand to bring hers to his cheek and turn his face back to her. “Why do you think I'm still fighting? It's not about the Inquisition. It's not about Ferelden or Orlais or Tevinter. It's about _you_. I'm fighting for _you_.” Tears come then, rolling down her face and making her breaths shake, but she doesn't care. “I just want you to be safe, to… to come home, wherever that may be… with me.”

There's so much love in his face as he gazes back at her, but sadness too. She wishes she could convince him, that she could take him away from all of this.

He lays a hand on her cheek. The corners of his lips twitch into a small smile. When he opens his mouth to speak, he hesitates, like he isn't certain he should say the words out loud. “I could want nothing more.”

She kisses him. He opens his mouth like he's been waiting for her. The hand on her cheek slides around to the back of her head, threading in her hair. She wishes she had both arms to pull him closer, but all she can do is grip an edge of his armor and kiss him. Kiss him and hope he understands what she wouldn't give to have him like this always.

When they part, their foreheads come together. His hand remains in her hair. Hers lies on his chest.

This is only a temporary truce, a brief respite from the real world. Once the Inquisition digs them out, he'll go back to what he believes he has to do, and she'll do the same. But she hates it has to be like this when all she's ever wanted is to be on his team… if only he'd let her.

“I love you,” she whispers. Tears fall from her eyes onto his armor.

He lifts her chin and brushes the tears from her face. “ _Ar lath, ma vhenan_.”

He kisses her again, and she surrenders to the moment. She allows herself to forget everything else, about the Inquisition, about the Veil, about Fen'Harel. This, right here, right now, it's just them.

And maybe Solas thinks the same because his arms come around her and they don't leave. His tongue is in her mouth and hers in his, and nothing else matters but their lips being together.

He stands, pulling her with him. His hand slides around her waist, bringing their hips together. His hands leave her face and her hair to find her overcoat, grasping and pulling at the edges. Her fingers blindly search his armor for ties or clasps to undo.

His lips come away from hers in a gasp for air. “No, we can't!” He tears himself from her, stepping away and running a hand over his face.

She reaches for him, trying to pull him back. “Solas.”

He shakes his head. “You'd regret it, _vhenan_. I cannot do that to you.”

“Regret it? Do you think I regret _any_ of the time we've spent together? Do you think I'd even be here if I did?”

He stares at her with such desperation in his eyes. She isn't sure if he's too scared to believe her or if he does believe and he's afraid of what he might do if she continues to voice such things.

“I do not,” she insists.

He scrunches his face and turns away from her.

“Solas–”

“I wish I could have given that to you, the man you thought I was. You don't deserve this.”

“Stop acting like you know what's best for everyone!” She circles around to him. “Like you know what's best for me! _I_ get a say in this!”

“You don't know everything–”

“I don't need to know everything.”

“But if you knew–”

She seizes the front of his armor, pulling him to her. “Don't you get it?! Learning you were Fen'Harel changed _nothing_. You walking away without a goodbye and disappearing for two years changed nothing. I love you more now than… than I ever did.”

She lets go of him as tears come to her eyes. “I don't care what you've done. I don't care about the parts of you haven't seen. I don't need to know them to know I will always love you. I should have walked away from this years ago. Doesn't the fact I'm standing here speak for itself?”

She wipes her eyes. “I don't want that Solas who left me at the waterfall. I want you, all of you. Everything I know, and everything I don't know.”

He stares at her, his chest rising and falling with his quickened breath. But she can't read his face. She can't see what's going on behind his eyes.

“Once we leave this place…” His voice is dry and he swallows. “I can't promise you–”

“I'm not asking you for tomorrow or next week. Gods, I'd love to have you walk out of here with me Solas, but I know…” She shakes her head and leans against him. “Right now we're together. It's just us and no one else. Can we not have a moment to ourselves?”

She lays a hand over his heart. she slides it down his armor, over his stomach, until falling between his legs. She presses upward to cradle him. She has no idea if he can feel anything with all the armor he has on. But his widening eyes tell her he's got the message. “I know what I want. What do you want?”

He mutters something long in ancient elven. She has no idea what it means, but it sounds like a curse. He presses his mouth to hers with such force she's knocked off balance. She steps backward and then again, following his momentum until she cries out in surprise as her back hits the wall of the cave.

She's pinned between him and the wall, helpless against the weight of him, and she loves it. His mouth leaves hers, pressing into her cheek, her jaw, then falling to the crook her neck. His tongue glides over the sensitive skin, and she moans. He presses harder, licking and sucking until she's holding on to him just to stop her knees from buckling.

“ _So-las_ ,” she gasps.

He pulls his lips from her with a chuckle, then returns to her shoulder, kissing along her collar and alternating teasing with his teeth and tongue. His hands slide under her thin cloth armor, fingers trailing across sensitive skin as he runs his hands over her back.

It isn't fair. She has _one_ arm, and no matter how she tugs or pulls–

She pushes him away with a frustrated groan. “Your _damned_ armor!”

He chuckles. “It's not meant to be removed easily.”

“Take it off!”

“ _Ma nuvenin_.”

He moves to undo a bracer, but she takes his wrist. “Show me.”

He smiles and takes her hand, guiding her fingers to where the clasps are. She fumbles with them, and one small piece of his armor falls to the ground.

He kisses her, one hand still guiding her fingers as the other arm wraps around her and pulls her close. Kiss by kiss, she finds each tie and fastening. She removes the pelt, the belt across this chest, and the cloak over his shoulders.

He helps her remove the sentinel plate, the pieces cast carelessly aside. He lifts a layer of chainmail over his head. It slinks to the floor as he resumes kissing her, her fingers working to undo the laces of his gambeson. And underneath that, a simple beige tunic.

She wonders how he doesn't die under all these layers as she slides her hand under the thin cloth, at last finding his warm, smooth skin. Solas pulls off the tunic. She takes her time, soaking in the view, memorizing the feel of him as she slides her fingers across his toned chest and arms. She kisses the freckles across his shoulders.

He lifts her chin to kiss her. As he does so, she grasps the waistband of his trousers, pulling him to her. He backs her up against the cave wall again, and she slides her hand underneath the fabric. He pulls his lips away with a gasp.

She pushes down his trousers, and he spills out into her palm. Solas closes his eyes, his head arched back and his lips parted as she explores his length, touching, massaging. He hardens with little effort from her.

She continues to entice him, circling his tip with her fingers, then changing to rub her palm against him. His head comes forward to rest in the crook of her neck. He breathes “ _vhenan_ ” against her skin, sending tantalizing ripples across it.

His hands find her waist and slides her trousers down before slipping two fingers inside her. She flexes involuntarily and opens her legs wider for him. She's already wet and ready. But the feel of his fingers pulling in and out of her…

She leans her head back against the cave the wall and breathes, continuing to play with him as he does with her, driving each other's need. He shudders and clear slick lubricates her palm. She rubs it over him, knowing she's probably dripping around his fingers. They've both been wanting this for far too long.

She kisses him, hooking her arm under his as she pulls him close, forcing him to remove his fingers. He brings his hips to hers, rubbing against her, again and again, forcing her to lay her head back with a sigh. Then he stops and holds her face in his hands.

“Are you sure you–?”

“Shhh, Solas.”

She kisses him, and he lowers himself to her opening and eases into her, just a little. He slides his hand to her backside, down her thigh to her knee, and lifts her leg to wrap around him, angling her hips deeper. He presses into her, and they both moan as he buries himself completely.

Neither of them move, breathing heavy. Solas takes her face in his hands again. “ _Ar lath, ma vhenan._ ”

“ _Ar lath.”_ She kisses him with vigor, then gasps as he begins to move inside her with slow, smooth motions.

He continues to kiss her, his hands struggling to remove her tunic. She helps him pull it over her head and gives a yelp as her back lays against the cave wall.

He freezes in place, horror passing over his face. “Are you all right?”

“The wall's cold. It just surprised me.”

He lays a hand on the wall behind her, testing it.

“It's all right,” she assures him.

“It's rough. I don't want to hurt you.”

“It's fine.” She tightens her leg around his waist to redirect his attention. “Don't worry about it.” She catches his bottom lip with her teeth, trying to pull him in. But he yanks away. “Solas!” She slams her fist against the wall. It stings as it scraps the surface.

He casts his eyes around the cave. “Do you have anything? In your pack?”

She doesn't understand what he's asking at first. “My bedroll's tied to it.”

He kisses her. “Always prepared.” He picks up the leg that isn't wrapped around him, using his body weight to hold her in place. He directs her arm over his shoulders. “Hold on.”

“Wait. What are you–?”

“Just hold on.”

She cries out in surprise as his hands cradle her backside and he carries her from her the wall. She tightens her arm around his shoulders to keep herself from falling backwards.

He walks a few paces and laughs at what must be a terrified look on her face. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” she says, a little breathless. “I've just… never done this before. You apparently have.”

The corner of his mouth twitches into a smirk, and she can't help but kiss his beautiful lips.

He carries her to her pack where he struggles to remove her bedroll with his foot.

“You're not going to be able to get it without putting me down,” she tells him.

“I can _try_.”

“Seriously,” she says as he continues to mess with it. “There's not much you can do from this position–” She gasps as he bounces her, her hips dropping to his, riding him without having intended it.

He raises an eyebrow. “You were saying?”

“Cocky, son of a–”

She finds only his bottom lip when she kisses him because his mouth is open in a hearty laugh.

“Why can't we…?” She wiggles her hips, and he bounces her again, slower this time. She takes a shaking breath. “Just do this for a while?”

He continues the movement, guiding her up and down. “I will have to–” He groans, and when he speaks again, he's breathless. “Put you down… eventually.

“Eventually,” she repeats.

They stay like that, Solas's arms guiding her up and down as they breathe and utter soft moans into each other's mouths. Gradually, he quickens the pace, building their need higher.

She tightens her legs around his waist, pulling her hips in closer, and breathes against his neck. “Solas, don't–” She moans against his skin. If they can keep on like this…

But he's tiring, breaking rhythm to adjust his grip on her and then again to reposition his feet. The building sweat on their skin isn't helping. Still, he bounces her, their bodies slapping together. She whimpers, digging her fingers into his shoulder. His breathing hitches.

His hands slide, breaking the rhythm again. With a cry of frustration, he puts her down. She stumbles, her body not ready for the sudden change.

He rips the bedroll from her pack and splays it out. He lays her down, hovering over top. He slips back inside her, rocking their hips together. She draws his face toward hers, kissing him. His lips leave hers to kiss her collar bone, his hands sliding from her face to massage her breasts. He lowers his face, rolling his tongue around a nipple.

She lays her head back and breathes a partial whimper.

He changes position, rising to his knees, his hands on either side of her, hovering over her at an angle, striking deeper. She moans under him. He continues, thrusting faster, his breathing growing labored. She writhes under him, her hand shooting out to clutch the edge of the bedroll.

He sits back, spreading out his knees, raising her hips higher. He drives hard and fast, his breath hitching with hers. Her senses dull, leaving her nothing but her own cries in her ears and the sensation of him, driving her higher and higher.

She climaxes, practically screaming as her back arches of its own accord. He continues his movements, stretching out her release, making it sweeter.

She whimpers as it ends and he keeps going, rattling her sensitive body. She's continues to clutch the bedroll, torn between wanting it to both stop and never end, her body crying out for respite. And then he groans, shuddering as he thrusts into her once, then twice. He folds over her, reaching for her, kissing her, breathing heavy into her mouth.

They lay spent on the bedroll, breathing together, holding each other.

He tucks her hair behind her ear. “Was that everything you hoped for, _vhenan_?”

“Mmm.” She kisses him again, and for a while they simply lay together.

“What now?” he asks.

She considers their options as she runs her hands over his body, taking in every inch. “We could go again.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Again, _vhenan_?”

“We have a lot of time to make up for.” She slides her hand between his legs, kissing his lips and stroking him until he's hard once more.

The way his head lies back, his eyelids flutter, his lips slightly parted, the soft breaths coming from him… gods, she could do this all day if he let her. “I think you're up for it.”

His eyes snap open, hard determination staring back at her. “Oh, I'll show you up for it.”

One hand on her wrist, the other around her waist, he pulls her toward him, then over him. He shifts onto his back and positions each of her legs over a shoulder. He nibbles her inner thigh, then brings his mouth to her center, licking and sucking.

She squeals in both surprise and delight, failing her arm as she searches for something to steady herself with.

 

* * *

 

They finally make a hole wide enough in the collapse to send one person through, and it isn't recommended to attempt making it wider. After much arguing, it is finally agreed to let Cassandra go through. She's lowered through the hole by a rope.

She can barely see in front of her face once she leaves the light let in by the hole above her. But up ahead she can make out the soft glow of veilfire. She draws her sword and raises her shield in front of her.

She isn't certain what she'll find. They all saw Solas and the Inquisitor run into the cave. That they found no sign of their bodies near the collapse was a good omen. The fact that no one answered their calls when they finally broke through the rubble was… disconcerting.

How far in did this cave go? Was the Inquisitor with Solas? Had they fought? Was he capable of hurting of her? After learning his true identity, Cassandra had to believe he was capable of anything.

Fen'harel's agents had retreated after the Inquisition surrounded the cave-in. Were they not concerned about their leader? Or did they know something the Inquisition didn't? Did the cave lead out somewhere the Inquisition hadn't been able to find? Were Solas and the Inquisitor even in the cave anymore?

The veilfire, though encouraging, is not necessarily a sign anyone is nearby. As she draws near however, she notices a figure lying on the ground. She approaches with caution and realizes it is not one figure, but two, wrapped around each other under a blanket that doesn't fully cover…

They're naked.

She takes a step back, nearly dropping her sword and shield.

No, she must have been mistaken. But casting her eyes around the sleeping forms, she catches the discarded clothing and armor in the soft glow of the veilfire.

Several emotions pass through her in quick succession. Bewilderment, frustration, anger… _How_ could this have happened? How could the Inquisitor have _let_ this happen? How could Solas have–?

She tightens her grip around the sword hilt.

That. Bastard.

She wants to strangle him with her bare hands. She wants to beat him senseless with her fists. She wants to scream every lie he ever told them into his face while banging his head against the cavern floor. He betrayed _all_ of them. Worst of all, he betrayed her friend. He led the Inquisitor on and then broke her heart on more than one occasion. He left the Inquisition without so much as a goodbye. And then he showed up again two years later in a mess that left her friend more broken than she'd ever seen. And now this.

How? _How?_

Her whole body shakes. The only thing stopping her from running Solas through right then and there is knowing the Inquisitor wouldn't want her to.

She lays her shield and sword at her feet, not trusting herself with them. Then she approaches the sleeping figures.

Luckily, the Inquisitor is closest to her, Solas' arms wrapped around her. She shakes her friend's bare shoulder.

Lavellan opens her eyes and jumps. “Cassandra!”

Her sudden movement wakes her sleeping companion whose eyes widen at the armored figure before them. He wraps his arms more tightly around her. Cassandra resists the urge to scoff. As though the Inquisitor needed protection from _her_.

She looks directly at Lavellan and ignores Solas for both their sakes. “We've made an opening… when you're ready.”

She turns from the couple and walks back to the cave-in, leaving the two of them to settle whatever is left between them.

 

* * *

 

They dress. She finishes must sooner than him, but she doesn't help him. She can't even look at him. She knows if she does, she'll absolutely lose it.

“ _Vhenan?_ ”

She turns around because she has to. He stands fully dressed in his armor, Fen'Harel once again. She burst into tears.

“Oh, _vhenan_.” He goes to her and wraps his arms around her. “I'm so sorry.”

She lays her head against his chest, her cheek pressing into the cold relentless armor. Her words come as a whisper. “I do not regret it.”

He lifts her chin, tears still rolling down her face, and kisses her.

She clings to him, pulling him toward her, allowing herself to think that maybe if she holds on long enough she can keep him here.

But it doesn't work, and he pulls away.

“Come on.” He slides an arm around her waist and walks with her.

 

* * *

 

Cassandra watches them approach, noting Solas' arm around the Inquisitor. She shakes her head, disgusted. She doesn't look at them again until they stop in front of her, and thankfully Solas has both arms at his side.

She gestures at the rope. “You first.”

The Inquisitor steps forward, and the Inquisition forces start pulling her up. Cassandra keeps her eyes on Solas, her sword and shield at the ready.

“How do you think this ends, Seeker?” he asks.

“With you in a holding cell.”

He chuckles. “You think that would hold me?”

“We'll find out.”

The Inquisitor's boots disappear through the hole. Her face reappears a moment later, lowering the rope. Cassandra gestures with her sword, and Solas steps to the rope. He looks up into the Inquisitor's face, and in that moment, Cassandra knows this is not going to end right.

“I'm sorry.”

She doesn't have time to react. Pain explodes between her eyes with enough force to knock her off her feet.

“Cassandra!” cries Lavellan's voice.

Solas' running footsteps sound against the stone floor.

“He's get – he's getting away!” She's doubled over on the floor. She can't see straight, and she can't stand. She tries to focus, fighting through the pain to draw on her powers as a Seeker in an attempt to filter the effects of the magic. She tries to stand and falls back to the ground.

“Cassandra!” Lavellan's voice is closer now, just at her side.

She waves the Inquisitor off. “Go! I'm fine! Get him!”

Her friend's footsteps sound down the cave. Eventually, she climbs to her feet, stumbling but still moving forward. She reaches the glow of the veilfire but finds no one.

“Inquisitor!”

“Down here!”

She follows the voice, heading deeper into the cave. There's another light, one emanating from magical fire in the Inquisitor's palm. As Cassandra nears, she can see what's stopped Lavellan in her tracks.

A deactivated eluvian.

“Damn him!” Cassandra lowers her sword and presses the back of her hand between her eyes against the pain still lingering there.

“When I see him again,” the Inquisitor says. “I'm going to kill him.”

Cassandra scoffs. If she wasn't in pain and irritated, she wouldn't say it. “Presumably after you ravish each other.”

She thinks she hears her friend cough. “Shut up.”

**Author's Note:**

> [original tumblr post](https://liaragaming.tumblr.com/post/161706913383)  
>   
>  If I entertained you, consider [buying me a coffe](https://ko-fi.com/heidirs)  
>   
> Thanks for reading!


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